Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team on Pole at Mid-Ohio

Lexington, Ohio — The Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team will start from the pole for round nine of the Grand American Rolex Series presented by Crown Royal Reserve EMCO Gears Classic to be run at Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course tomorrow.

A hard fought qualifying session witnessed Ruby Tuesday driver Patrick Long exchanging the pole position with four different cars when he was finally able to post a time of 1:20.625 that will initially had him starting from the second row of the grid for tomorrow’s two-hour-and-forty-five minute race. Upon tech inspection of the Daytona Prototype qualifiers, the top three cars were deemed too wide and sent to the back of the field, awarding the pole position to the number 23 Ruby Tuesday car.

Long and teammate Mike Rockenfeller have steadily improved the Alex Job Racing prepared Porsche Crawford throughout practice yesterday and today. Facing teams that had the opportunity to test here last month, the Ruby Tuesday team did an excellent job to field a car that will start at the front of the grid.

Patrick Long was slightly disappointed with his effort, but will take a qualifying gift. "When the pole position falls into your lap, you have to take it and give the Ruby Tuesday team credit for putting a quality car on the track. I had some shifting issues with the car during qualifying and when you are running it right on the edge going for pole and hundredths of a second it can cost you. The beginning of the session I was able to come right out on the track and post a good time. As the session wore on the top of the time sheet was crowded with the cars that tested here, but we put in a respectable time and we will have a good car for the race."

Mike Rockenfeller would have liked more laps going into the race. "The rain has curtailed our running and tomorrow looks clear, so we are slightly behind with our setup work. Patrick did a really good job to get us a great starting position for the race; we will make some adjustments in the warm-up and be ready for the race. We know that we need to have a good event and carry a strong performance into Daytona next week, there is no lack of motivation for the team or the drivers."

"Patrick looked very competitive through the session," said Alex Job, team owner. "The pole had changed hands about four different times between four separate drivers and we were in the mix. We had to focus yesterday on getting the baseline setup and this morning it was really too wet to do any quality running, so with our limited track time this weekend, fourth is not a bad result for qualifying. Patrick and Mike are as motivated as the Ruby Tuesday team is to get back to the front in the championship and we hope to start that march in tomorrow’s race. The pole is a nice gratuity with the luck we have been having of late, maybe we are going to try and turn this opportunity into a win tomorrow."

The Ruby Tuesday Championship Racing Team is currently sixth in the battle for the team championship. Long and Rockenfeller are sixth in the drivers point standings, 46 out of the lead in the Daytona Prototype category.

Round nine of the Grand American Rolex series from Mid-Ohio will be televised, tape delayed, on Speed Channel starting at 3:00 p.m. ET, Sunday, June 25th.

The team will be appearing at the Ruby Tuesday restaurant in Ontario, Ohio on Friday, June 23rd at 7:00 p.m. to sign autographs and greet fans.

Ruby Tuesday is one of the nation’s leading casual-dining restaurant companies, with more than 800 restaurants worldwide. It was founded in 1972 by Sandy Beall, who serves as Chairman & CEO today. The company is committed to having uncompromising freshness and quality with passionate employees who take pride in delighting guests with an excellent dining experience. The burger-centric menu features an assortment of handcrafted burgers, its fresh salad bar, premium baby back ribs and a variety of other signature entrees. Ruby Tuesday, Inc. is traded on the NY Stock Exchange (symbol:RI). To find out more about Ruby Tuesday, please visit www.rubytuesday.com

To view the Alex Job Racing press kit or for additional information, please refer to www.alexjobracing.com or contact Kyle Chura by or at (248) 821-0468.